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Louisiana and Amtrak agree to revive train service between New Orleans, Baton Rouge

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana is a step closer to connecting its capital city to New Orleans via a revived train line.Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed a service development agreement that will advance the return of intercity passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, about an hour-long commute. The agreement, signed Thursday, is a breakthrough for a project that has been in the works since 2008.“All eight years I’ve been governor, I’ve been working to reestablish rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans,” Edwards told WBRZ-TV.According to the agreement, passenger service could start as early as 2027. The plan is to start with one round trip a day. More rides will be added as riders increase. Along the route, passengers can expect stops in Gonzales, Laplace, and Jefferson Parish.“An Amtrak line connecting Louisiana’s capital to the largest metropolitan area in the state will have immense economic benefits for both cities and the parishes in between,” Edwa...

Adel Omran, Associated Press video producer in Libya, dies at 46

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Adel Omran, a video producer in chaos-stricken Libya for The Associated Press, has died. He was 46. Omran died at his family home in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Port Said early Friday after suffering a heart attack, his family said.Before joining the AP more than a decade ago, Omran worked as a hotel manager in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. He decided to return to his native Libya to work as a journalist in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. He became a pillar of AP coverage of the NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and led to his killing. Omran was a mentor to many of the country’s younger journalists.“During a difficult period in the country’s history, Adel was able to network and establish contacts and stringers across Libya,” said Derl McCrudden, AP’s vice president and head of global news production. “He also had a competitive desire to get the story out and this was a great combination.”Omr...

WATCH LIVE | Maine mass killing suspect found dead, ending search that put entire state on edge

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — The Army reservist who opened fire in a bowling alley and then at a bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, was found dead Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot, ending an intensive two-day search that had the state on edge.Robert Card, a firearms instructor who grew up in the area, was found dead in nearby Lisbon Falls, Gov. Janet Mills said at a Friday night news conference.“Like many people I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” Mills said.April Stevens, a Lewiston resident who knew one of the victims, said she was relieved to learn that the “monster and coward” who inflicted so much pain was no longer a danger.“I’m relieved but not happy," she said. "There was too much death. Too many people were hurt. Relieved, yes, happy, no.”Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said Card was found at 7:45 p.m. near the Androscoggin River, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of wher...

How do you minimize damage if a deer runs in front of your car?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — You may have noticed more deer making an appearance lately, especially near roadways.“This time of year is what we call the ‘deer rut,’ which is basically mating season for deer," said Falyn Owens, an extension wildlife biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. "They’re moving around a whole lot more than they do under normal circumstances.”More deer on the move means drivers should be extra careful on the road.According to Car and Driver, an average of about 2.1 million vehicle crashes involving deer occur in the U.S. each year. Additionally, most research indicates that over 90% of deer collisions result in damage to the vehicle involved, according to the Federal Highway Administration.A motorist comes to a complete stop on Route 88 in Wheeling, West Virginia, as a deer crosses the road, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. Cars crash into deer more than 4,000 times a day. (AP Photo/The Wheeling Intelligencer, Scott McCloskey)Deer are active anytime...

David Brooks: Searching for humanity in the Middle East

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

We’re living through an era of collapsing paradigms. The conceptual frames that many people use to organize their understanding of the world are crashing and burning upon contact with Middle Eastern reality.Woke-ismThe first paradigm that failed this month was critical race theory or woke-ism.Yascha Mounk has a good history of this body of thought in his outstanding book “The Identity Trap.” But as it applies to the Middle East, the relevant ideas in this paradigm are these: International conflicts can be seen through a prism of American identity categories like race. In any situation, there are evil people who are colonizer/oppressors and good people who are colonized/oppressed. It’s not necessary to know about the particular facts about any global conflict, because of intersectionality: All struggles are part of the same struggle between the oppressors and the oppressed.This paradigm shapes how many on the campus left saw the Hamas terror attacks and were thus pushed into a series...

Soucheray: We’re just islands in the anti-automobile stream

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

Street construction in St. Paul features concrete islands being built on Fairview Avenue between Montreal and Randolph avenues. Maybe between Edgcumbe Road and Randolph. Hard to say. The Fairview project has been underway since about 1956, it seems, and it’s been difficult to get a picture of whatever the vision might be.The fellows could be hard at work in other parts of the city, too. Islands might be the new fad.The islands appear to be architectural affectations that serve only to remind motorists that they are unwanted. Perhaps they are intended to be calming. We seem to elect people who, if they even own a car, do so reluctantly and apparently believe that motoring is a wild exercise fraught with anxiety and danger. So, they fuss and jimmy with perfectly good streets and create, to induce calming, bump-outs, more bike lanes and islands, which only increase blood pressure.Perhaps the islands are meant to be sanctuaries for pedestrians. Maybe pedestrians are now supposed to cros...

Working Strategies: C-suite candidates and the needed paperwork

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

Amy Lindgren“Send me your materials.”Résumé? Curriculum vitae? Biography? What should executive-level candidates forward when recruiters make this request? Lesson one for executive job search: In this situation feel free to reply, “What do you prefer?”For the moment, the most adaptable and widely used document is your résumé, so that’s a good place to start. Once you have that organized, you can improve your LinkedIn profile, draft a one-page bio, and consider whether a CV is needed. Here are some tips to help you get prepared.Résumés for the C-SuiteIf you’re focused on a C-suite position, that is, a leadership position with the word “chief” in the title, your résumé needs to promote your “C” qualities. For example, CFOs (chief financial officer) are long past the days of entering financial data or developing quarterly reports. Those skills are assumed but unlikely to be used — which means they don’t need to be highlighted.If a CFO isn’t going to showcase accountin...

St. Louis police investigating double homicides in overnight shootings

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating two separate fatal shootings that occurred during the early morning hours. The first incident took place near downtown, shortly after 12:30 a.m., where an unidentified man shot someone else in the back at the intersection of Evans and Vandeventer avenues. Homicide is investigating this case.  In another incident around the same time, a second man died due to a shooting in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. This incident happened on Beck Ave., with officers responding to a man who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.  If anyone has any information related to either of these events and wishes to maintain their anonymity, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS. 

Maine officials give update after reports suspect found dead

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (NewsNation) — Robert Card, the man accused of killing 18 people and injuring 13 more in two Maine shootings, is dead, federal law enforcement sources tell NewsNation.A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Card is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police are expected to provide an update on the investigation at a 10 p.m. news conference.Card has been sought since Wednesday, when investigators say the suspect allegedly entered two separate Lewiston businesses — Schemengees Bar and Just-in-Time Recreation — and opened fire, killing and injuring multiple people. Murder warrants were issued against the 40-year-old.According to eyewitness Kenny Moore, the gunman’s AR-style rifle allegedly jammed at the bowling alley and the shooter fled the facility shortly after.Investigators were able to identify Card through vehicle registration after his white Subaru was discovered near the Lisbon boat dock. According to information from ...

Photos: Bay Area high school football Week 10, 2023

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:39 GMT

Los Gatos 24, Wilcox 21See a photo you like? Click Here to see these and more and to purchase high-quality prints or a keepsake photos on mugs, buttons, greeting cards, and more.Wilcox running back Elijah Walker (31) rushes for a 13-yard touchdown against Los Gatos in the PAL Bay Division championship high school football game, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Wilcox quarterback Tyson Bonilla (8) rushes into the red zone on a 4th quarter touchdown drive against Los Gatos, in a PAL Bay Division high school football game, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Los Gatos running back Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung (22) rushes for 28 yards on a game-winning touchdown drive against Wilcox in a PAL Bay Division high school football game, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Los Gatos wide receiver Jaylen Thomas (3) dives for yards after a reception on a ga...